The MILWAUKEE BUCKS are an American professional basketball franchise
based in Milwaukee,
WisconsinWisconsin . The Bucks compete in the National
BasketballBasketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern
Conference Central Division . The team was founded in 1968 as an
expansion team , and play at the
Bradley CenterBradley Center . Former U.S. Senator
Herb Kohl was the long-time owner of the team, but on April 16, 2014,
a group led by billionaire hedge fund managers Wesley Edens and Marc
Lasry agreed to purchase a majority interest in the team from Kohl, a
sale which was approved by the owners of the NBA and its Board of
Governors one month later on May 16. The team is managed by Jon
Horst, the team's former Director of
BasketballBasketball Operations, who took
over for John Hammond in May 2017. The team is currently valued at
$675 million according to
ForbesForbes , ranking fourth-to-last in the
league.

On January 22, 1968, the NBA awarded a franchise to Milwaukee
Professional Sports and Services, Inc. (
MilwaukeeMilwaukee Pro), a group headed
by Wesley Pavalon and Marvin Fishman. A fan contest was held to name
the new team, with over 40,000 fans participating. While the
most-voted fan entry was the Robins, named for Wisconsin's state bird,
the contest judges went with the second-most popular choice, the
Bucks, which was a reference to Wisconsin's official wild animal, the
white-tailed deer . One fan, R. D. Trebilcox, was awarded a new car
for his part in reasoning why the Bucks was a good nickname, saying
that bucks were "spirited, good jumpers, fast and agile." In October,
the Bucks played their first NBA regular-season game against the
Chicago BullsChicago Bulls before a
MilwaukeeMilwaukee Arena crowd of 8,467. As is typical
with expansion teams, the Bucks' first season (1968–69 ) was a
struggle. Their first victory came in their sixth game as the Bucks
beat the
Detroit PistonsDetroit Pistons 134–118; they won only 26 more games in
their first year. The Bucks' record that year earned them a coin flip
against their expansion cousins, the
Phoenix Suns , to see who would
get the first pick in the upcoming draft. It was a foregone conclusion
that the first pick in the draft would be Lew Alcindor of
UCLAUCLA . The
Bucks won the coin flip, but had to win a bidding war with the upstart
American
BasketballBasketball Association (ABA) to secure him.

1969–1975: KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR ERA

During his six seasons with the Bucks, Abdul-Jabbar averaged
30.4 points and 15.3 rebounds per game.

Despite the Bucks' stroke of fortune in landing Alcindor, no one
expected what happened in 1969–70 . They finished with a 56–26
record – a nearly exact reversal of the previous year and good
enough for the second-best record in the league, behind the New York
Knicks . The 29-game improvement was the best in league history – a
record which would stand for 10 years until the
Boston CelticsBoston Celtics jumped
from 29 wins in 1978–79 to 61 in 1979–80 (the difference again
being a highly touted rookie,
Larry Bird ). The Bucks defeated the
Philadelphia 76ers in five games in the Eastern semifinals, only to be
dispatched in five by the Knicks in the Eastern finals. Alcindor was a
runaway selection for
NBA Rookie of the YearNBA Rookie of the Year . Robertson as a
member of the
MilwaukeeMilwaukee Bucks

The following season , the Bucks got an unexpected gift when they
acquired
Oscar Robertson , known as the "Big O", in a trade with the
Cincinnati Royals . Subsequently, in only their third season, the
Bucks finished 66–16 – the second-most wins in NBA history at the
time, and still the most in franchise history. During the regular
season, the Bucks recorded a then-NBA record 20-game win streak . They
then steamrolled through the playoffs with a dominating 12–2 record,
winning the NBA Championship on April 30, 1971, by sweeping the
Baltimore Bullets in four games. By winning it all in only their third
season, the Bucks became the fastest expansion team in the history of
North American sports to win a championship. It remains, as of 2017,
the only title in team history.

The Bucks remained a powerhouse for the first half of the 1970s. In
1972, they recorded their third consecutive 60-win season, the first
NBA team to do so. During the year, Lew Alcindor converted to Islam
and changed his name to
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar .
MilwaukeeMilwaukee beat the
Warriors in the playoffs 4–1, but lost the conference finals to Los
Angeles 4–2. Injuries resulted in an early 1973 playoff exit, but
the Bucks were back in the
1974 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics
. In game six of the series, Abdul-Jabbar made his famous "sky hook "
shot to end a classic double-overtime victory for the Bucks. The Bucks
lost game seven and the series to the Celtics; as of 2016, they had
not returned to the
NBA FinalsNBA Finals . As the 1974–1975 season began,
Abdul-Jabbar suffered a hand injury and the team got off to a 3–13
start. After his return, other injuries befell Milwaukee, sending them
to the bottom of their division with 38 wins and 44 losses. When the
season ended, Abdul-Jabbar made the stunning announcement that he no
longer wished to play for the Bucks, stating that he needed the big
city, requesting a trade to either Los Angeles or New York. The front
office was unable to convince him otherwise and on June 16, 1975, the
Bucks pulled a mega-trade by sending Abdul-Jabbar to the Lakers for
Elmore Smith ,
Junior Bridgeman ,
Brian Winters and David Meyers . The
trade triggered a series of events that led to a change in the team's
ownership.
Jim Fitzgerald , the Bucks largest stockholder, opposed the
trade and wanted to sell his stock. Although Fitzgerald was the
largest stockholder, he did not own enough stock to control the team.

1976–1979: TRANSITION FROM ALCINDOR/ABDUL-JABBAR

After the deal, the Bucks had several seasons in transition, but most
of these players would go on to help the team. After being sold to
cable television executive
Jim Fitzgerald and several partners in
1976, the Bucks would enter into another era of greatness. It began
with
Don Nelson who became head coach in November 1976 after Larry
Costello abruptly resigned. In the 1977 draft, the Bucks had three
first round picks and drafted
Kent Benson ,
Marques Johnson and Ernie
Grunfeld . Johnson would become a staple in the Bucks for years to
come. Rookie
Sidney Moncrief made his debut in 1979.
Don Nelson went
on to win two
NBA Coach of the Year awards with the Bucks, both during
seasons where the team won division titles, in 1983 and 1985.

On October 18, 1977, Abdul-Jabbar, playing with the Lakers, punched
Benson during a game. Abdul-Jabbar broke his hand in the process.
Benson had been aggressive under the boards and Abdul-Jabbar, a
martial arts blackbelt , snapped. Abdul-Jabbar was fined $5,000 by the
NBA and missed the next 20 games. Meanwhile, Benson never played as
aggressively again and the Bucks traded him to the
Detroit PistonsDetroit Pistons in
1980 for veteran center Bob Lanier to fill in the hole left by the
departure of Abdul-Jabbar. They then won the Midwest Division title in
1980. After losing to
SeattleSeattle in the semi-finals, the Bucks moved to
the Eastern Conference 's Central Division .

1979–1990: SIDNEY MONCRIEF ERA

There, they would win six straight division titles and have .500
seasons for the next 11 years. Within those years, the Bucks became
perennial Eastern Conference contenders, primarily due to the strong
play of Moncrief,
Paul Pressey ,
Craig Hodges and the arrival of Terry
Cummings ,
Ricky Pierce and
Jack Sikma from trades with the Los
Angeles Clippers and
Seattle SuperSonics respectively. However, the
Bucks were unable to make it to the
NBA FinalsNBA Finals again, being eliminated
by either the Celtics or the Sixers each time.

For much of the 1970s the Bucks colors were forest green, deep red
and white. In 1978, they added various shades of green to the
uniforms, and in 1985, they eliminated red from the team colors.

Noteworthy for the 1980s Bucks is that in 1983 they became the first,
and until 2003 , only team in NBA history to sweep the Boston Celtics
in a best-of-seven playoff series, being the first team to meet and
defeat
Michael JordanMichael Jordan in a playoff series (during Jordan's rookie
year), and hosting
Julius Erving 's final NBA game in the 1987 NBA
Playoffs , which would see the Bucks advancing with a game five
first-round playoff victory.

Ownership And Arena Changes

In 1985, Fitzgerald and his partners (one of which was Stuart Shadel)
decided to sell the Bucks. He was having health problems and some of
his investors wanted to get out. The Bucks were playing in the
smallest arena in the NBA and the city did not want to build a new
one.
MilwaukeeMilwaukee businessman and U.S. Senator
Herb Kohl bought the Bucks
after fears that out-of-town investors could buy the team and move it
out of Milwaukee. Before the transaction was complete, Jane and Lloyd
Pettit of
MilwaukeeMilwaukee announced they were donating a new arena called
the
Bradley CenterBradley Center . In 2003, after considering selling the team, Kohl
announced that he had decided against selling the Bucks to Michael
Jordan and would "continue to own them, improve them and commit them
to remaining in Wisconsin".

On May 21, 2012, it was announced that the naming rights of the
Bradley CenterBradley Center had been sold to the
BMO Harris Bank division of Bank
of Montreal , which had purchased the assets of M"> Toni Kukoč
playing for the Bucks.

For most of the 1990s, the Bucks franchise was mired in mediocrity
under coaches
Frank Hamblen , Mike Dunleavy , and
Chris Ford . From
1991 through 1998, the Bucks suffered seven straight seasons of losing
records. During this period, the Bucks drafted
Glenn Robinson with the
first overall pick in the 1994 NBA Draft and in 1996 acquired rookie
Ray AllenRay Allen in a draft day trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Both
players would have prominent roles in the Bucks resurgence during the
late 1990s.

After the franchise's 25th anniversary in 1993, the Bucks overhauled
their logo and uniforms. The colors were green, purple, and silver.
The old logo, which featured a cartoonish deer, was replaced in favor
of a more realistic one. The primary color scheme was altered as well,
when red was supplanted by purple. Purple road uniforms replaced the
former green away uniforms.

After a decade of dwelling near the bottom of the NBA's standings,
the Bucks looked to add credibility to their basketball operations. In
1998, the team hired veteran coach
George KarlGeorge Karl , who had reached the
NBA FinalsNBA Finals with the
Seattle SuperSonics . Under the leadership of Karl
and general manager
Ernie Grunfeld , and with the steady addition of
talent such as Tim Thomas and
Sam Cassell , the Bucks developed into
an elite team in the Eastern Conference. The nucleus of the "big
three"—consisting of
Ray AllenRay Allen , Cassell, and Robinson—along with
Karl, created a successful renaissance era in Milwaukee. The team
reached its zenith in 2000–2001, winning 52 games and the Central
Division title. The Bucks reached the 2001 Eastern Conference finals,
which they lost in seven games to the 76ers.

After coming close to an
NBA FinalsNBA Finals appearance in 2001, the Bucks
sought to make key off-season player additions to put the team in the
NBA Finals. Behind the strong encouragement of George Karl, the Bucks
acquired forward Anthony Mason at the beginning of the 2001–02
season . On paper, this move made the Bucks the team to beat in the
East. However, Mason battled with his weight and had a tough time
finding his role. The Bucks, who at the season's midway point were
the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, began to free-fall. The
collapse culminated with a loss to the
Detroit PistonsDetroit Pistons on the final
night of the season, which eliminated the Bucks from the playoffs and
gave the division to the Pistons. The fallout created tension between
the team's players and coach, resulting in a trade of Glenn Robinson
to Atlanta (for
Toni Kukoč and a 2003 first-round draft pick, used to
select
T. J. Ford ).

During the 2002–03 season , the Bucks traded
Ray AllenRay Allen and backup
Ronald "Flip" Murray to the
Seattle SuperSonics for
Gary Payton and
Desmond Mason . The trade allowed emerging star
Michael Redd to see
increased playing time, and with Payton in the backcourt, they
finished the season with a 42–40 record. The Bucks made the
playoffs, but lost in the first round to the
New Jersey Nets in six
games. That offseason, team leaders
Sam Cassell and
Ervin Johnson were
traded to Minnesota (for Joe Smith ). Payton left via free agency,
after playing only 28 games for the Bucks. Coach Karl's tenure also
ended after the season. Within a one-year period, the team had lost
the coach and players most responsible for the team's success during
that era.

Under the direction of new general manager Larry Harris , the Bucks
struggled with inconsistency and injury for the next six years. During
that period, they reached the playoffs twice, first under coach Terry
Porter in 2004 and then under
Terry StottsTerry Stotts in 2006 . In both
instances, they were defeated by the
Detroit PistonsDetroit Pistons in five games.
During that period,
Michael Redd blossomed into an all-star and a
perimeter shooting threat, becoming the new "face of the franchise".
The Bucks received the first pick in the
2005 NBA draft , and used it
to select center
Andrew Bogut . Bogut struggled with both
inconsistency and injuries in his first four years in Milwaukee, but
over time became a key contributor to the Bucks.

In 2006, the team finished 40–42, last in their division, 24 games
behind Detroit, but still made the playoffs in a season where every
team in their division did. They were paired as the eighth seed versus
the 64–18 conference-leading Pistons. They won game three at home,
but lost the other four in a 4–1 series loss.

Also in March, the Bucks announced that they would not renew general
manager Larry Harris 's contract, which was to expire in June. In
April, the Bucks hired John Hammond, formerly vice-president of
basketball operations for the Pistons, as their new GM, giving the
MilwaukeeMilwaukee team a fresh director recently associated with success.

On June 26, 2008, the Bucks acquired
Richard Jefferson from the New
Jersey Nets in a trade for 2007 first-round draft pick
Yi Jianlian and
Bobby Simmons . Later that day, the Bucks selected West Virginia's
Joe Alexander with the eighth pick of the NBA draft. Alexander was the
first Taiwanese-born player in the NBA.

In the
2009 NBA draft , the
MilwaukeeMilwaukee Bucks selected point guard
Brandon Jennings , who had not gone to college but played in Italy the
previous year. Midway through the season, Bucks GM John Hammond traded
Hakim Warrick to Chicago , and acquired
John Salmons . In a Bucks
uniform, Salmons averaged a team-leading 19.9 points per game. The
play of Jennings, along with the improvement of Andrew Bogut, the
improved
Ersan İlyasova , and the Salmons trade, catapulted the team
to be a playoff contender. At the beginning of the season, the Bucks
had low playoffs expectations; they had not been in four years. In
October, the Bucks quickly fell behind the
Cleveland Cavaliers in the
Central Division, but
MilwaukeeMilwaukee ultimately clinched a playoff berth on
April 6, 2010, with a road win over the
Chicago BullsChicago Bulls . It was during
that time that the phrase "Fear the Deer" started, most likely by an
ESPN commentator, and adopted on message boards and within Andrew
Bogut's Squad 6. The slogan rang well with Bucks fans, who started
bringing signs with the phrase to games. The slogan became the team's
battle cry in the NBA playoffs. The Bucks finished the regular season
with a record of 46–36. The Bucks clinched the sixth seed and were
eliminated in a seven-game series against the
Atlanta HawksAtlanta Hawks . It was
the farthest
MilwaukeeMilwaukee had gotten in the post-season since 2001 . The
Bucks short playoff run was also in part due to Bogut suffering a
broken arm after making an awkward fall after a dunk in a late-season
game, thus ending his season. In the 2010–11 season, the Bucks
finished ninth in the Eastern Conference, just out of reach of the
playoffs.

With Bogut sidelined for the rest of the season and Stephen Jackson
and head coach
Scott Skiles not seeing eye-to-eye, the Bucks decided
to trade both players. On March 13, 2012, 48 hours before the trade
deadline, the Bucks traded Bogut and Jackson to the Golden State
Warriors in exchange for
Monta Ellis ,
Ekpe Udoh , and
Kwame Brown .

After 32 games of the 2012–13 season, the Bucks fired Skiles, their
coach since 2008.
Jim Boylan was announced as the interim head coach
and led the Bucks to a 22–28 record to finish the season at 38–44.
The Bucks qualified as the eighth seed, where they were quickly swept
4–0 by the reigning, and eventual, champions, the
Miami HeatMiami Heat .

On April 16, 2014, long-time Bucks owner
Herb Kohl agreed to sell a
majority interest of the team to New York-based billionaires Wesley
Edens , and
Marc Lasry for $550 million, but Kohl still retains a
significant minority interest in the team. The new owners are expected
to keep the team in Milwaukee, and are also expected to contribute
$100 million toward building a new arena for the franchise. Approval
from the NBA Board of Governors came on May 15, a month later.

With the many changes to the Bucks in ownership, coaches, and
acquiring new young players to rebuild the team, the Bucks' new slogan
for the 2014–15 season became "Own The Future".

The Bucks' overall play vastly improved, and on December 26, the
Bucks beat the
Atlanta HawksAtlanta Hawks 107-77 for their 15th win, matching their
win total of the previous season just 30 games in. The Bucks then went
on a stretch from January 24 to February 20, where they went 10-2. The
Bucks beat the
Sacramento KingsSacramento Kings on February 11 for their 30th win of
the year, and also became the first ever NBA team to double their win
total from the previous season before the All-Star Break.

Off the court, the Bucks made several changes to their roster,
releasing Larry Sanders after several off-court incidents that led to
multiple suspensions. On February 19, in the final minutes of the
trade deadline, the Bucks became part of a 3-way deal with the
Philadelphia 76ers and the Phoenix Suns, sending Brandon Knight, who
was in the final year of his contract, to the Suns, and receiving
reigning Rookie of the Year
Michael Carter-Williams ,
Miles Plumlee ,
and Tyler Ennis . The Bucks also lost expected superstar Jabari Parker
to a season-ending knee injury on December 15 in a game against the
Phoenix Suns.

On January 25, the NBA passed the '
Jay-Z Rule', prohibiting ownership
groups from consisting of more than 25 individuals, and also mandating
that no ownership interest in a team be smaller than 1%. Both Lasry
and Edens had sold chunks of Bucks ownership to family, friends, and
prominent members of the
MilwaukeeMilwaukee community.

The Bucks finished the 2014–15 season with a 41-41 record. Their
26-game improvement from the previous season was the second highest in
franchise history. The Bucks made the
2015 NBA Playoffs as the 6th
seed in the Eastern Conference, where they faced the
Chicago BullsChicago Bulls in
the first round, losing in six games.

On July 6, 2015, Bucks president Peter Feigin stated if public
funding for a new arena falls through, the NBA may buy the team and
move it to
Las VegasLas Vegas or
SeattleSeattle . The latter city could be the
frontrunner, as the city had a proven fanbase with the Seattle
SuperSonics (a name the Bucks would more than likely pick up with a
move to the city), and the NBA only needs a $25 million profit to buy
the Bucks and move them to one of the two aforementioned cities.
Current Bucks owners Wes Edens,
Marc Lasry and Jamie Dinan combined
with
Herb Kohl to pledge $250 million for the new arena and are
seeking a match from the public. Of those funds, $93 million would
come from the
WisconsinWisconsin Center District in the form of new debt on
MilwaukeeMilwaukee citizens. The district wouldn't commence repaying the bonds
until 13 years thereafter.

On July 9, 2015, the Bucks confirmed their signing of center Greg
Monroe to a three-year, $50 million contract. The Bucks also announced
the club's re-signing of
Khris Middleton to a five-year, $70 million
contract.

On July 15, 2015, the future for the Bucks in
MilwaukeeMilwaukee was
solidified after the
WisconsinWisconsin state senate voted 21-10 in favor of a
proposal to use public money to help finance a new arena. The Bucks'
new arena would replace the BMO Harris Bradley Center, which as of
2016 is the third-oldest arena currently used by an NBA team, behind
Oracle Arena , and
Madison Square GardenMadison Square Garden . The arena opened in 1988,
and has been used by the Bucks for 27 consecutive seasons.

On the court, the young roster of the Bucks went through a step
backward, to a 33–49 record in the 2015–16 season, though Giannis
Antetokounmpo had an encouraging stretch in the final half of the
season, accumulating 5 triple-doubles.

On June 18, 2016, ground was broken for the Bucks' new arena, which
is expected to be completed by the autumn of 2018.

On September 19, 2016, the Bucks and
Giannis AntetokounmpoGiannis Antetokounmpo agreed to
a 4-year, $100 million contract extension. In addition, the team would
add new young improvements to the roster in drafting
Thon Maker and
Malcolm Brogdon , and made trades to bring in Tony Snell and Michael
Beasley . When the 2016–17 season began, the Bucks were without
Khris Middleton, who suffered a torn hamstring during a practice. Even
so, the Bucks remained competitive, staying around .500 for the first
half of the season, with both Antetokounmpo and
Jabari Parker leading
the offense. While Parker missed making the All-Star team, Giannis was
voted in as a starter, becoming the first Bucks All-Star since Michael
Redd in 2004. In January, the Bucks slumped, though fans anticipated a
turnaround with Middleton's return on February 8 against the Miami
Heat. In the same game, however, Parker tore his ACL for the second
time in 3 seasons, ending his season. Even so, Middleton's return
still sparked a turnaround in March. During the month, the Bucks went
14-4, putting the team back in the thick of the playoff race. On April
8, 2017, the Bucks beat the
Philadelphia 76ers 90-82, clinching the
Bucks a playoff spot. On April 10, the Bucks beat the Charlotte
Hornets 89-79 to clinch only the third winning season for the Bucks
since 2001. The team finished the 2016-17 regular season with a 42-40
record.
Giannis AntetokounmpoGiannis Antetokounmpo made history, becoming only the 5th
player in NBA history to lead his team in all five major statistical
categories, and was the first in NBA history to finish in the top-20
in the league in each category. The Bucks were the #6 seed in the
Eastern Conference playoffs, and lost in the opening round to the
Toronto Raptors, 4-2.

On May 23, 2017, Bucks general manager John Hammond stepped down to
become general manager with the Orlando Magic.

OWNERSHIP

As of July 16, 2015, the following individuals and groups are among
the owners of the Bucks:

Bango has been the Bucks' official mascot since on October 18, 1977,
which was Milwaukee's home opener of the
1977–78 NBA season . In
addition to the date being Bango's home debut, the game itself pitted
MilwaukeeMilwaukee against former Bucks center
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his Los
Angeles Lakers at the
MilwaukeeMilwaukee Arena . Bango has worked hard to
become popular with Bucks fans throughout the state of
WisconsinWisconsin over
the years, appearing at schools, parades, and festivals as a goodwill
ambassador for the team. His high-flying acrobatic layups, daring
rebounds, and other entertaining antics still play an important role
in energizing Bucks fans at the BMO Harris
Bradley CenterBradley Center . Since
2001, Bango has also made perennial appearances at the NBA All-Star
Game .

At the 2009 All-Star Weekend in Phoenix, Arizona, Bango suffered an
injury during a mascot-participative skit. While standing on one
basket's rim, Bango's right leg slipped through the hoop, and he fell
on the rim. He then slipped further and fell through the basket
entirely. Bango tore his ACL due to the fall and was unable to perform
for the remainder of the 2008–09 season, periodically making
appearances at games in a wheelchair. A video of Bango's injury at the
2009 Mascot Challenge was uploaded onto
YouTubeYouTube shortly after the
incident occurred.

The Bucks' first uniforms were based on the
Boston CelticsBoston Celtics '
uniforms, featuring block lettering and numbers. The hunter green road
uniforms featured the city name and numbers in white with red trim.
The home white uniforms featured the team nickname and numbers in
hunter green with red trim; the color scheme was reversed for the
1971–72 NBA season . In the
1973–74 NBA season , the road uniforms
featured a script "Milwaukee" and numbers in red with white trim; two
seasons later they used the same design for their home uniforms. In
the
1976–77 NBA season the road uniforms reverted to the block
"Milwaukee" lettering while retaining the script home uniform. The
shorts featured the alternate Bucks logo on the left leg.

Coinciding with the debut of
Robert IndianaRobert Indiana 's iconic MECCA court in
the
1977–78 NBA season , the Bucks redesigned their uniforms. It now
featured side stripes of kelly, lime and hunter green (a.k.a. the
"Irish Rainbows"), inspired by the "Rainbow Guts" uniforms of the
Houston Astros . Both the hunter green and white uniforms featured the
streamlined "Bucks" lettering from the team logo and block lettering.
They removed the color red prior to the
1985–86 NBA season .

The Bucks changed their logo and uniforms for the 1993–94 NBA
season . The purple road uniforms featured a modernized "Bucks"
lettering from their logo and numbers in silver with hunter green
trim, with green side stripes. The home white uniforms featured the
same lettering and numbers in hunter green with silver trim, with
purple side stripes. The stripes were extended to the jersey in the
2001–02 NBA season .

In the
1995–96 NBA season the Bucks unveiled a hunter green
alternate uniform. The script "Bucks" lettering was in white fading to
silver and purple and numbers were in white with green and purple
trim. The uniform featured the graphic deer logo on the right side.
They were retired after the
1998–99 NBA season . It would be
resurrected for the
2012–13 NBA season during Hardwood Classics
Nights, to updated uniform standards.
MilwaukeeMilwaukee Bucks wordmark,
2006–15.

The uniforms were changed again for the
2006–07 NBA season . The
new home uniform was white with hunter green stripes on the sides.
Inside each green stripe is a thinner red stripe that splits into two
stripes near the shoulders. The numbers are green with a red outline.
MilwaukeeMilwaukee had two road uniforms as part of this set. The primary one
was hunter green and a similar design to the home uniform with white
numbers with a silver highlight and red outline. Both uniforms jerseys
said "BUCKS" across the chest in beveled block letters, the 'B' and
'S' slightly larger than the rest of the letters. A secondary road
uniform was introduced in the
2008–09 NBA season . Consisting of red
jersey and shorts, it was made to resemble the 1968–73 uniforms. It
says "Milwaukee" in white and silver writing, along with the numbers.
The uniform set was tweaked for the
2014–15 NBA season , with the
addition of a gold tab commemorating their 1971 championship and the
move of the NBA logo to the back. The 'Bucks' lettering was tweaked to
make all the letters the same height.

During the 2014–15 season, hints were made by the Bucks that their
logo and uniforms were going to be redesigned. For one home game, it
was anticipated that new uniforms were going to be revealed with
hunter orange replacing red as the secondary color. It turned out to
be an April Fool's joke, though the Bucks did announce that a new logo
and colors would be revealed on April 13, 2015.

On April 13, 2015, the
MilwaukeeMilwaukee Bucks unveiled new primary and
secondary logos, as well as a new color scheme. The new branding will
take effect beginning with the 2015–16 NBA season. The Bucks' new
official colors are Good Land Green (a reference to "Milwaukee" being
supposedly based off an Algonquian word meaning "The Good Land"),
Cream City Cream (based on Milwaukee's old nickname of "the Cream
City", which came from the cream-colored bricks that were used for
constructing many of Milwaukee's buildings back during the late 19th
century), Great Lakes Blue, Black, and White.
MilwaukeeMilwaukee Bucks
wordmark, 2015–present.

On June 6, 2015, the
MilwaukeeMilwaukee Bucks unveiled their new home and road
uniforms, to be worn beginning with the
2015–16 NBA season . The new
uniforms remained white at home and green on the road, but red is now
replaced by cream. The 'Milwaukee' city name also returned to the road
uniforms for the first time since 1977. In addition, the jerseys
feature a unique color block pattern on the sides, titled the "Cream
City Rainbow". The pattern consists of the team's new colors of green,
cream, royal blue and black, which the Bucks described as an homage to
the "Irish Rainbow" design of the 1980s. Blue was also included inside
the collar, representing
MilwaukeeMilwaukee and Wisconsin's "blue collar"
citizens, while the inscription "Fear the Deer" was written on the
bottom left upside down. The back collar features a small gold tab
above the NBA logo, commemorating the Bucks' 1971 NBA championship .

On October 3, 2015, the
MilwaukeeMilwaukee Bucks unveiled a new black
alternate uniform. In conjunction with the alternate uniform
unveiling, the team also unveiled a new alternate court design, a
first in NBA history. The team plans to wear the black alternate
uniform and play on the alternate court design for four (4) home games
during the 2015–16 season .

The Bucks hold the draft rights to the following unsigned draft picks
who have been playing outside the NBA. A drafted player, either an
international draftee or a college draftee who isn't signed by the
team that drafted him, is allowed to sign with any non-NBA team. In
this case, the team retains the player's draft rights in the NBA until
one year after the player's contract with the non-NBA team ends. This
list includes draft rights that were acquired from trades with other
teams.

* 1 In total, Robertson was inducted into the Hall of Fame twice –
as player and as a member of the 1960 Olympic team .
* 2 Played one season with the Bucks. Inducted as contributor for
being the first
African AmericanAfrican American to manage a team in NBA.

Since the 2007–08 season, all Bucks games not nationally broadcast
have aired exclusively on regional cable television over Fox Sports
WisconsinWisconsin ; before that throughout the late 1960s until 1999 after
broadcast deals with
WITI-TVWITI-TV (Channel 6) and
WISN-TV (Channel 12),
WVTV (Channel 18) in
MilwaukeeMilwaukee aired mostly road games over a
statewide network of stations in other markets, and from 1999–2007,
WCGV-TV (Channel 24) shared games with Fox Sports Wisconsin. Since
1986,
Jim Paschke has been the team's TV announcer, with former Buck
Jon McGlocklin providing color commentary for the team since 1976.
Since April 2012 when
MilwaukeeMilwaukee Brewers games conflict with those of
the Bucks, Bucks games are moved over to
Fox Sports Wisconsin Plus, a
gametime-only overflow channel. For the 2015–16 season and beyond,
veteran announcer Gus Johnson and former Buck
Marques Johnson (no
relation) will call a select number of games alongside Paschke and
McGlocklin on a rotating basis.

On the radio side the team has been carried by WTMJ (620) and
throughout the state on the Bucks Radio Network (which is sponsored by
Marshfield Clinic ) for most of the team's history. Ted Davis
announces, with former
WTMJ-TV sports director Dennis Krause providing
color and serving as solo announcer on nights where Davis has a
broadcasting assignment elsewhere.